"Yadegar-i Zariran" an Epic Narrative of the Battle of Yazdgerd II (439-457 AD) with Xionites

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JHSS, 14(2):1-20, 2022

10.22059/jhss.2022.346113.473583

https://jhss.ut.ac.ir/

"Yadegar-i Zariran" an Epic Narrative of the Battle of Yazdgerd II (439-457 AD) with Xionites

Hamidreza Pashazanous¹

1. Assistant Professor, Department of History, Faculty of literature and Humanities, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran. E-mail:[email protected]

Article Info. Abstract

Received:2022/07/22 Yadegar-i Zariran is one of the oldest epic texts left from the Sassanid era, which has an epic account of the Iranians' battle with the invading tribes in North Kayanian king, who got killed in the defense of Zoroastrian religion. Although this book was written during the Sassanid period and in the Sassanid Pahlavi language, but some scholars believe that Yadegar-i Zariran belongs to the Parthian period and has been narrated by the Gosans and has entered in other literary and historical texts such as Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. Although the names of the people in this story belong to a very ancient period, but the names of positions and Xionites are clearly related to the Sassanid period. In this article, the author tries to explain the time of writing or combining the subject of Yadegar-i Zariran with the event of the Sassanid period by comparatively examining the content of Yadegar-i Zariran with the text of Al-Tanbiyyah wa al-Ashraf written by masoudi and the Chinese book Weishu. A comparative analysis of the information related to the political structure in Yadegar-i Zariran with the information in Masoudi and Weishu 's book shows that the text of Yadegar-i Zariran contains details of the political structure of Yazdgerd II Sassanid court and most likely, it was re-written during the period of this king, and it described the events of the invasion of the Iranian Huns in mythological language. The presence of Yazdgerd II in the North East of Iran and also his usage of kiyanians kings names, speaks of the special conditions of that region are probably the main motivation for the writing of Yadgar Zariran.

Acceped:2022/11/20 Keywords:

Yadegar Zariran, Yazdgerd ii, Al-Tanbiyyah, Weishu, Xionites

*Corresponding Author: E-mail:[email protected]

How To Cite:Pashazanous, H. (2022). "Yadegar-i Zariran" an Epic Narrative of the Battle of Yazdgerd II (439- 457 AD) with Xionites.Journal of Historical Sciences,14(2): 1-20

.

Publisher: University Of Tehran Press.

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[email protected]

"

[email protected] *

(3)

(4)

(Wilhelm Geiger) (Antonino Pagliaro)

Pagliaro, 1925: 1-2

(Geiger, 1890: 2-3)

(Christian Bartholomae)

(Bartholomae, 1922: 22)

(Emile Benveniste)

(Macuch, 2009: 174-180)

(Benveniste, 1932: 252) .

(Henning, 1933: 349) .

(Bo Utas)

(Utas, 1975: 404) .

(Boyce, 1987: 126-127; Omidsalar, 1996: 235-242) .

(5)

(Robert Göbl)

(Göbl, 1967: 24-26, 56-57; Ibid, 1978: 107)

(Rezakhani, 2017, 205)

(Potts, 2018: 288) .

(Kermichiones) (Photius, codd: 64)

(6)

(Ammianus Marcellinus XVI.ix.4)

(Potts, 2018: 288)

(Tremblay, 2001: 188)

(Sinor, 1990: 184) (Alram, 1986: 330)

.

(Wei shou, 1974: j. 102: 2275) (Kaji Ta La) .

(Cribb, 2010:

95-96)

(Payne, 2015: 294–295)

1982: 192) .

(7)

(Tremblay,

2001: 188, Potts, 2018: 288) .

(Frye, 1983: 146) (Mihr-Narseh)

(Daryaee, 2002: 38)

(Eran-Khwarrah-Yazdegerd)

(Gyselen, 1998: 537)

.

(Schindel, 2004: 87-386) .

(mzdysn bgy kdy “The Mazda-worshipping majesty, the Kayanid”) (Göbl, 1983: 330)

(Shayegan, 2017, 807)

(X’iiaona)

(8)

(Gushyasht)

(Zamyad

Yasht) (Zand-i Wahman Yasht)

(A-tur) (Topit)

(Audrak)

(Mountaineer)

(white army appareled in red)

(Anklesaria, 1957: 34-35, 112)

.

(Bailey, 1930-32: 585-86, 591; Wolfgang, 1991: 485-486)

.

(9)

(10)

(Northern Wei ( ))

(Wei shou, 1974: j. 102: 2263)

.

(bosi ( ))

(Wei shou, 1974: j. 102: 2271)

.

(Wei shou, 1974: j.

102: 22 )

-zàn( )) (fáng bù shuài (

))

(m hú tán( ))

)) ))

(11)

(no-lo-ho- ))

(Sie po po ( ))

( ) ( )

(K. Hori)

(Hori, 1908: 248) (Yazdekert)

(Laufer, 1919: 531) .

(Henning, 1940: 17).

(Laufer, 1919: 530)

.

(Stein, 1920: 50)

(12)

(Ho Tokhshan Bod)

(Vastrioshansalar)

(Argabed)

(Argabides) (Artabides)

(Laufer, 1919:

532-533) .

(Whitby et al, 1986: 101) .

(Hrzhbd)

(Tafazzoli, 1990: 301-

302) (Laufer, 1919: 533)

(13)

(Boyce, 1957: 36) .

(Argabed)

(Laufer, 1919: 533) .

(MacKenzie, 1998: 534) .

(14)

-

(Kay)

(Shayegan, 2017, 807) (Ibid,

2017, 806-807)

(15)

(George, 1999: 10)

(Ibid, 50)

(16)

MacKenzie, 1984, 163 .

(Potts, 2018: 291) .

(yazad or yazd) (Hedu( ))

(Hill, 2015: 245) .

(Hargbed)

(Laufer, 1919: 532-533)

.

(17)

(18)

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(19)

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"Yadegar-i Zariran" an Epic Narrative of the Battle of Yazdgerd II (439-457 AD) with Xionites

JHSS, 14(2):1-20, 2022

"Yadegar-i Zariran" an Epic Narrative of the Battle of Yazdgerd II (439-457 AD) with Xionites

Article Info. Abstract

.

Pagliaro, 1925: 1-2

.

.

.

.

.

MacKenzie, 1984, 163 .

(Potts, 2018: 291) .

(yazad or yazd) (Hedu( ))

(Hill, 2015: 245) .

(Hargbed)

(Laufer, 1919: 532-533)

.

Alram, M., Nomina propria iranica in nummis: Materialgrundlagen zu den iranischen Personennamen auf antiken Münzen, Vienna, 1986.

Ammianus Marcellinus, History, Translated by John C. Rolfe. Loeb Classical Library, Harvard, Harvard University Press, 1956.

Anklesaria, B. T. Zand-î Vohûman yasn and Two Pahlavi Fragments, Bombay, 1957.

BSOS 6, 1930-1932, 581-600.

Bartholomae, Christian, Zur Kenntnis der mitteliranischen Mundarten IV, Sb.

Heidelberger Ak. d. Wissenschaften, 1922.

Benveniste, Journal Asiatiqe, Paris, 1932, 245- 293.

Boyce, M., “Ayadgar-I-Zareran,” Encyclopedia Iranica, Vol. III, Fasc. 2, 1987, 126-127.

JRAS, 1957, 10-45.

Cribb, Joe, "The Kidarites, the numismatic evidence," Edited by M. Alram et al.

Coins, Art and Chronology II, 2010, 91–146.

Christensen, Arthur, L'Iran sous les Sassanides, Copenhague: Levin and Munksgaard, 1936.

r, Translated by Robert W. Thomson, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1982.

Felix, Wolfgang, “Chionites,” Encyclopedia Iranica, Vol. V, Fasc.5, 1991, 485- 487.

Frye, R.N., “Iran under the Sasanians,” in The Cambridge History of Iran III/1,

edited by Ehsan Yarshater, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983,

116-80.

Geiger, Wilhelm, - -

- , München, Druck der

Akademischen Buchdrukerei von F. Straub, 1890.

George, Andrew (tr.), The Epic of Gilgamesh, New York, Penguin, 1999.

Göbl.R., “Sasanian Coins,” in the Cambridge History of Iran III/1, ed. Ehsan Yarshater, Cambridge, 1983, 322-39.

Göbl.R., Dokumente zur Geschichte der iranischen Hunnen in Baktrien und Indien, Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz, 1967.

Göbl.R., Antike Numismatik I, München, 1978, 107-108.

-Xwarrah-Yazdgerd". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VIII, Fasc. 5, 1998.

Henning, Walter Bruno, “A Pahlavi Poem”, ActaIranica VI (selected papers), Leiden, 1933, 349-357.

Hill, John E, Through the jade gate to Rome: a study of the silk routes during the Later Han Dynasty 1st to 2nd centuries CE: an annotated translation of the chronicle on the 'Western Regions' updated and expanded, 2 volumes, Create Space Independent Publishing Platform, 2015.

Hori, K., “A Chinese Account of Persia in the Sixth Century A.D.,” Spiegel Memorial Volume, Bombay, 1908, 246-50.

Laufer, Berthold, Sino-Iranica: Chinese Contributions to the History of Ancient Civilization in Ancient Iran, Chicago: Field Museum of History, 1919.

Fasc. 5, 1998.

MacKenzie, David Neil, “Review of Davoud Monchi-Zadeh, Die Geschichte Zarer’s,” Indo-Iranian Journal 27, 1984, 155-163.

Macuch, Maria, “Pahlavi Literature,” In R. E. Emmerick and M. Macuch, ed., The Literature of Pre-Islamic Iran: Companion Volume I: A History of Persian Literature, Vol XVII, London and New York, I.B.Tauris, 2009, 116-190.

Omidsalar, Mahmoud, “Unburdening Ferdowsi.” JAOS 116, 1996, pp. 235–

242.

-

Payne, Richard, “The Reinvention of Iran: The Sasanian Empire and the Huns".

In Maas, Michael (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, 282–299.

Photius, The Library of Photius (Bibliotheca), Translated by J. H. Freese.

Translations of Christian Literature 1, London: SPCK, 1920.

Potts, Daniel T., "Sasanian Iran and its northeastern frontier," In Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity, edited by Nicola Di Cosmo and Michael Maas, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018, 287-301.

Rezakhani, Khodadad, "From the Kushans to the Western Turks," In King of the

Seven Climes: A History of the Ancient Iranian World (3000 BCE - 651 CE),

edited by T. Daryaee, UC Irvine: Jordan Center for Persian Studies, 2017a, 199–225.

Shayegan, M. Rahim, "Sasanian Political Ideology". In The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran, Edited by Daniel T. Potts, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Schindel, N., Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum, Paris-Berlin-Wien III/2, Vienna, 2004.

Sinor, Denis, "The Hun Period". In The Cambridge history of early Inner Asia, edited by Denis Sinor, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990, 177–

203.

Stein, E., “Ein Kapitel vom persischen und vom byzantinischen Staate,”

Byzantinisch-neugriechische Jahrbücher I, 1920.

Tafazzoli, Ahmad, “An Unrecognized Sasanian Title,” Bulletin of the Asia Institute, Volume 4: In Honor of Richard Nelson Frye, (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1990, 301-5.

Tremblay, Xavier, Pour une histoire de la Sérinde: Le manichéisme parmi les peuples et religions d’Asie Centrale d’après les sources primaires, (Veröffentlichungen der Kommission für Iranistik, 28), Vienne, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2001.

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